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Taylor Marsh has been writing on line since 1996, with the archives provided here a representation of that work.

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Your Sunday Early Bird News Round-Up

By on 17 April 2011

Good morning and welcome to Sunday.

On this day in history, April 17, 1961, approximately 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in an attempt to topple Fidel Castro

Here are some links on this lovely Spring morning:

~The WSJ has an unusually good piece about the dangerous brinkmanship going on between Saudi Arabia and Iran. While Iran is certainly going to take advantage of unrest in the region, it’s also clear that every tin-pot dictatorship is trying to blame their people’s justified, long-overdue demands for democracy and economic opportunity as being the result of outside meddling, whether from the U.S., Iran, Israel etc. If every there was a time fundamentally re-thinking our strategy in the Middle East and doing something about our dangerous addiction to the region’s oil, it’s now.

~In a sea of depressing news, here is a good story- Japanese animal lovers band together and risk radiation exposure to save stranded dogs in the evacuation zone by the disabled nuclear plant.

~Mission Creep in Libya?

~Speaking of Libya, it was a bloody day in Misrata on Saturday and the Liban Rebels are growing frustrated with NATO for not doing more to stop Gadhafi’s attacks. This problem was entirely foreseeable- to think all we had to do was institute a no-fly zone and then let the untrained, poorly-armed Rebels fight Gadhafi was naive. It was obvious early on that if we went in to help we’d have to be doing all the heavy lifting until Gadhafi’s forces were destroyed.

~Whael Ghonim, the Egyptian Google executive that started the Facebook page that helped give voice to the Egyptian Revolution, blasted Western elites and others for propping up Mubarak for so long. Irony alert- he was speaking at a panel at the International Monetary Fund (ie. to elites).

~The Ross Perot of 2012, Donald Trump, is now the GOP frontrunner.

~Donald Trump has a friend in Fox News’ Sean Hannity, who is more than willing to spread the birther conspiracies and “Obama is a secret Muslim” nonsense. However, if Trump ever decides to get off the crazy train and start talking about serious issues like currency manipulation and trade imbalances with respect to China, he’ll find his new-found friend will jump on the next passing wingnut ship without ever looking back.

~Hey, who needs environmental protection?

~A long, interesting article/interview with Israeli opposition leader (Kadima) Tzipi Livni.

~When are we going to have an honest, in-depth national debate about Afghanistan? The administration is already trying to sell us on the idea that things are “improving but fragile”- in other words, we can’t possibly leave anytime soon! They are also preemptively warning that they expect much more violence. Well, they are right on that front. When is the media going to start to confront Gates, Obama, Clinton with the reality that Karzai, who likely stole the election, is playing both sides while lining his pockets and international bank accounts with U.S. taxpayer money?

~Speaking of Afghanistan, the administration must be pleased with this Washington Post piece which appeared late last night- “In Afghanistan’s south, signs of progress in three districts signal a shift.” Who are the main sources for this potted plant story? General Petraeus and “other military officials.”

~Ok, while we are arguing about federal funding of planned parenthood and NPR, Congress approved $205 million in aid (in addition to the billions already set aside) on Friday for an Israeli missile defense system. I’m a little confused as to why this was done right now when Congress has already approved a record-setting amount of aid for Israel not just for this year or next, but for the next 10 years. And I’m not just picking on Israel here- the same goes for other countries- Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan etc. At a time when Americans are being asked to sacrifice in a HUGE way, we need to re-think some of our foreign aid – I don’t advocate totally slashing the foreign aid budget because it’s an important aspect of our diplomacy and there are both humanitarian and strategic reasons for it. Nor do I advocate totally gutting aid to Israel. It’s nice that Israel has a nationalized health care system and a growing economy while here in the U.S. the GOP thinks federal money spent on health care is evil socialism. I think that at time when Congress is taking a machete to the budget and claiming every dollar spent has to be offset, I think it’s fair to demand that everyone sacrifice at least a little bit. Nothing should be exempted from the debate.

~Jim DeMint would like the U.S. Constitution amended so as to ban federal deficits. And I’d like a pink pony.

~Why is Rick Santorum such a homophobe?

~Candidate Obama was completely opposed to signing statements. Until the other day.

~Nope, no racism in the Tea Party!

~Guantanamo on trial.

~If you haven’t seen this video of the cat and dolphin playing, check it out, it’s too cute:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGrN3uWO_Rs]

~Down with Tyranny has a spot-on post about how the GOP plan for education is to turn it into yet another corporate profit-mill. But first they have to destroy the teacher’s unions.

~In case you missed it, Dana Milbank had a self-serving piece in the WaPo where he bemoans Obama being “rudderless” without Pelosi watching his political left flank. This from the guy who has spent two years mocking the liberal base and warning that Obama should move to the center (ie. the right).

~Secretary Clinton was in Seoul and is now in Tokyo promising generous U.S. financial support after the Tsunami/earthquake (where is the money coming from?).

~At least Rep. Weiner is telling the truth about the Kabuki GOP budget.

~Sarah Palin was in Wisconsin tossing out some sarcastic, largely meaningless bullet points. All of this seems to portend a larger role for her in the GOP’s financial misinformation campaign.

~Why does the MSM give Orly Taitz a platform to spew her brand of crazy?

~Politico carries the Washington Post’s water. Because, you know, the WaPo would never do anything unethical or which interferes with its objectivity!

The End.

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My $0.02/Saturday: Hillary, Jeannette, and Perditta

By on 02 April 2011

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives for the funeral mass for former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, Thursday, March 31, 2011 in New York.

Morning, news junkies. Note: You’ll have to read all the way to the bottom of this one for the tie-in to “Jeannette” and “Perditta.” There’s also some comic relief from the Onion waiting there at the end as a reward for making it through. My Saturday reads are often on the ‘heavy’ side I know, and this weekend is no exception.

I’d like to start with a story I touched on in a roundup about a month ago. You may recall that I linked to Glen Ford/BAR’s commentary on the pogrom-like massacre against sub-Saharan black migrant workers in Libya, at the hands of so-called anti-Gaddafi rebels. The Western media has virtually blacked this story out–or if they are covering it in any substantive or sustained way other than in passing, I must have missed it over the past month. Leave it to the WSWS (World Socialist Web Site) to have one of the few informative pieces I’ve seen covering the story at all (h/t paperdoll for pointing me to it.) The WSWS piece references a March 22nd article, in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung by Gunnar Heinsohn (which cites as its source a report by Zimbabwean journalist and documentary filmmaker Farai Sevenzo).

From the WSWS link:

The article states:“Because mercenaries from Chad and Mali are presumed to be fighting for him [Gaddafi], the lives of a million African refugees and thousands of African migrants are at risk. A Turkish construction worker told the British radio station BBC: ‘We had seventy to eighty people from Chad working for our company. They were massacred with pruning shears and axes, accused by the attackers of being Gaddafi’s troops. The Sudanese people were massacred. We saw it for ourselves.’ ”

The zombie in place of the fourth estate, our corporate US media, has either glossed over or omitted the massacre altogether. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera, unsurprisingly, has had more to say on the killings than I’ve seen from CNN or Fox over the last few months combined. Again, from the WSWS link:

On February 28, the Arab TV station Al Jazeera reported the racist massacre of black African workers by so-called “freedom fighters” as follows: “Dozens of workers from sub-Saharan Africa, it is feared, have been killed and hundreds are hiding because angry opponents of the government are hunting down black African mercenaries, witnesses reported…. According to official reports, about 90 Kenyans and 64 people from southern Sudan, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Zambia, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone and Burundi landed in Nairobi today.

One of them, Julius Kiluu, a 60-year-old construction manager, told Reuters: ‘We were attacked by people from the village. They accused us of being murderous mercenaries. But in reality they simply refuse to tolerate us. Our camp was burnt down. Our company and our embassy helped us get to the airport.’“Hundreds of black immigrants from the poorest African countries, who work mainly as low-wage day labourers in Libya, have been wounded by the rebels. From fear of being killed, some of them have refrained from going to a doctor.”

I went digging for the Al Jazeera report:

“But why is nobody concerned about the plight of sub-Saharan African migrants in Libya? As victims of racism and ruthless exploitation, they are Libya’s most vulnerable immigrant population, and their home country governments do not give them any support,” Hein de Haas, a senior fellow with the International Migration Institute, writes in his blog.

In clicking on the link to de Haas’ blog and perusing the comments, I stumbled upon a link to this February blog post at the Independent by Michael Mumisa: Is Al-Jazeera TV complicit in the latest vilification of Libya’s Blacks?

Mumisa wrote:

Even Al-Jazeera TV has based most of its news coverage of bands of marauding savage Africans on information posted via tweeter, facebook, and other social networks. That there may be African mercenaries operating in Libya is very possible but there are also credible reports from Serbian military sources as well as other Western agencies that Serbian mercenaries are fighting to protect Muammar Gaddafi. Yet nothing has been said about Gaddafi’s Serbian and Russian mercenaries.

Black Africans have always been a ‘visible’ and persecuted minority in Libya. By giving credence to potentially dangerous and unverified reports and rumours posted on social networks without taking into consideration the racial context of Libyan society Al-Jazeera and other foreign media outlets are complicit in the latest vilification and scapegoating of Libya’s Black minorities and its African migrant workers.

I don’t claim to be an expert on what’s happening on the ground in Libya, but I would like some answers on the deaths of these migrant workers. I would really love to hear someone put this humanitarian issue to Madame President Hillary Clinton for comment.

Switching gears now… because yep, you heard me correctly…

I just called her Madame President Hillary Clinton.

If the aliens visiting for the upcoming royal wedding were to observe what was going on right now, what else would they conclude? Hillary’s leading, Obama’s not, and everyone knows it.

Nothing new there, of course, except for the part about everyone knowing it. If Obama is the Where’s Waldo president, our media was the Where’s Waldo fourth estate in 2008, as well as during the entire past decade. That Where’s Waldo media, by the way, very much included left blogistan, guilty of its own version of the “Village” insularity and hegemony in the traditional media that the prog blogs cut their teeth railing against.

In 2008, access was more important than our country’s future to journalists and bloggers, and I have no reason to believe in 2012, the story will be any different.

Which brings me to my next set of links… Continue Reading →

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My $0.02/Saturday Reads and a few words from Dr. Seuss

By on 19 March 2011

Morning, everyone. As I drafted this post on Friday, news broke that a Wisconsin county judge has blocked Walker’s collective-bargaining law.

Other than that, not much happy news to report, so I’ve included some uplifting words from Seuss at the end of my Saturday picks below. Also, see photo to the right for reason to keep hoping against hope.

Onto the rest of the headlines…

Japan and Nuclear Energy

The number of dead and missing from Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami has now topped 16,000. It is the deadliest natural disaster to hit Japan in nearly a century.

For example, here’s a little line-up of TEPCO lies:

  • In 2002, Michael Zilenzieger reported that top officals TEPCO were forced to resign “after admitting that the company had covered up safety violations and falsified records at three of its largest nuclear power plants”.
  • In 2006, the government demanded that TEPCO “check past data after it reported that it had found falsification of coolant water temperatures at its Fukushima Daiichi plant in 1985 and 1988, and that the tweaked data was used in mandatory inspections at the plant, which were completed in October 2005.”
  • And in 2007, TEPCO reported that it “had found more past data falsifications, though this time it did not have to close any of its plants.”

Then there were some minor matters of building on fault lines that they claim not to have known about and releasing radiation into the atmosphere. And so on.

Distrust of government has also helped nurture anti-nuclear sentiment. As Flynn’s study found, the yawning gap between expert and public views on nuclear risk owes largely to a lack of trust in government and industry officials to manage the hazards safely. In the United States, the old Atomic Energy Commission was widely viewed as secretive and deceptive before its dissolution in 1974. Perhaps this explains why the two industrialized countries that have had the most success in allaying nuclear fears are France and Japan, cultures that are largely comfortable with leaving the task of governing to technocrats. (Though, admittedly, in Japan, confidence in the government and nuclear utilities had come under strain even before Fukushima.)

Why are we playing Russian roulette with the American people for nuclear plants whose principal objective is simply to boil water and produce steam? This is technological insanity. It presents national security problems, for every nuclear plant is a prime target. It affects our civil liberties. It endangers our workers. It is an industry that cannot be financed by Wall Street because it’s too risky. Wall Street demands 100 percent taxpayer guarantees for any nuclear plant.

So I suggest that people listening and watching this program to pick up the phone and dial the White House comment number, which is (202) 456-1111, (202) 456-1111, and demand the following: that there be public hearings in every area where there’s a nuclear plant, so the people can see for themselves what the hazards are, what the risks are, how farcical the evacuation plans are, how costly nuclear power is, and how it can be replaced by energy efficiency, by solar energy, different kinds of solar energy, by cogeneration, as Amory Lovins and many others, Peter Bradford, have pointed out.

We must no longer license any new nuclear plants. We should shut down the ones like Indian Point. How many people know that Hillary Clinton, as senator, and Andrew Cuomo, as attorney general, demanded that Indian Point be shut down? That doesn’t matter to the monetized minds in Washington, D.C. We also should prepare a plan where, apart from the aging plants, which should be shut down, and apart from the earthquake-risk plants—should be shut down—for the phase-out of the entire industry. We’re going to be left with radioactive waste for hundreds of thousands of years, for which there is no permanent repository. This is institutional insanity, and I urge the people in this country to wake up before they experience what is now going on in northern Japan: uninhabitable territory, thousands dead, hundreds of thousands at risk of cancer, enormous economic loss. And for what?

Continue Reading →

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Headline of the Week

By on 18 March 2011




or…


The Daily Mail story is deeply depressing.

David Sanger has been a must read during this unfolding nightmare.

The decision to raise the level came two days after the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission warned publicly that the situation at the crippled plant was much bleaker than Japanese officials had indicated, either because they were less worried or playing down the scope of the problems for fear of sparking panic. – Japan Raises Nuclear Crisis Warning Level Retroactively

The UK Guardian warned earlier in the week that a “cover-up” was likely in play.

Honorable mention goes to the Wall Street Journal, because of the title of the op-ed they did today. I’m absolutely stunned it took the Right so long to weigh in with this one.


The WSJ‘s dig of Obama “throwing little bones to its left” is as priceless as it is accurate. But since politics is inevitably about practicality and not perfection it will also likely work.

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Trivial Pursuits in Times of Peril

By on 15 March 2011

“For my Dad, America was the land of opportunity, where the circumstances of birth are no barrier to achieving one’s dreams,” Romney said in a high-profile New Hampshire speech earlier this month. He added: “The spirit of enterprise, innovation, pioneering and derring-do propelled our standard of living and economy past every other nation on earth. I refuse to believe that America is just another place on the map with a flag.” – GOP 2012 theme: American ‘decline’

What’s playing out in Japan right now is overwhelming to comprehend. Looking at Libya, same thing, as Germany blocks an Anglo-French no-fly zone plan, while the Saudis sent troops into Bahrain, and today a report that Sect. Clinton was snubbed in Egypt. We’ve got our own domestic challenges too, so there are few places to turn for comfort.

During Rush Limbaugh’s first hour today he went on a bender about Pres. Obama’s NCAA bracket picks, which was a top item on Mike Allen’s Playbook this morning (where I get my early a.m. news), which NRO quickly picked up with a “Wow.” When I wrote about it today on Twitter, as I often do when I listen to the first hour of Rush, Politico’s Jonathan Martin responded that it was also on the top of Drudge, which stands to reason since Limbaugh often channels what’s on his front page. In the center column was PRESIDENT CHECKS OUT: FOCUS ON B-BALL BRACKETS… with a link to a weird little piece on Obama not being present enough as the world roils.

I’ll let you be the judge of whether Pres. Obama is doing his job, which is the crux of the Right’s argument today, joined by other anti-Obama sites, evidently believing that a moment spent on NCAA March Madness picks will mean the end of American greatness.

But I also won’t make light of the image issue being presented, because one of the reasons Ronald Reagan was elected is because at the end of Pres. Carter’s first term he seemed not on top of what was happening in the world, while considered responsible for America slipping. That’s the main theme of the GOP for 2012. Now all the Right needs is a Reagan.

However, the notion that Pres. Obama needs to be either looking grim and concerned or be hidden away for fear of seeming frivolous amidst Japan’s catastrophic nuclear challenge is not only ridiculous, but inconsistent with life itself.

Taking 30 minutes to enjoy the simple pleasures of life while Japan roils is not craven. It’s called living. Like him or not, approve of his politics or not, Pres. Obama is on the job 24/7, non-stop. To suggest that by taking a few moments out to honor the pleasures of sports is presidential sacrilege is misunderstanding the importance of trivial pursuits at times of great stress. So what if Pres. Obama plays golf on Saturday? George W. Bush did it all the time, which Rush and the Right never cared about.

Life is a pressure cooker. High stress jobs and situations make it even worse. Being president is beyond what any of us can imagine, especially today, and let’s hope one of Barack Obama’s plans is to live well beyond his presidency, not kill himself in the job.

Taking some time to enjoy life doesn’t mean a president or a person isn’t taking care of business. No one can immerse him- or herself in work constantly without eventually blowing a physical fuse.

It’s not a sin to enjoy life even when others are suffering. In fact, it’s more important to appreciate the gifts of life when you’re spared tragedy and take the time to breathe in the bounty when fate passes you by.

As for the Republican 2012 message of “American ‘decline,’” if they had a candidate there is no doubt Pres. Obama is vulnerable for this type of marketing. People like the President, but his standoffish, non-engagement leadership style amidst world events exploding, with Americans used to our presidents inserting himself and our country across the globe, is not going down well with everyone.

A normal moment of trivial pursuit comes off as out of touch. Cue the Jimmy Carter theme music, which is exactly what Republicans are turning to with their 2012 “American ‘decline’” theme, which in times when people feel overwhelmed and powerless could resonate.

If only Republicans had a candidate who could sell the message, but they don’t, at least not yet.

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Japan: Fourth Reactor ‘Spewing’ Radiation

By on 15 March 2011

(CBS/AP) SOMA, Japan – A Japanese spokesman says a fourth reactor at a quake-damaged nuclear plant is on fire following an earlier explosion, and radiation is now spewing from it. The radiation level is now elevated to a point that may damage health, the spokesman said. – New explosion leads to spewing radiation



The third explosion in four days has now occurred, with the worst feared.

The New York Times‘ headline above on their latest story is enough to freak anyone out.

“It’s way past Three Mile Island already,” said Frank von Hippel, a physicist and professor at Princeton. “The biggest risk now is that the core really melts down and you have a steam explosion.” – The New York Times

The 12-mile contamination warnings seem tremendously optimistic if you’re listening to experts across news channels, no matter the station. Via Twitter around 11 pm EST last night, news organizations were evacuating the area around the Fukushima plant.

As for giving to Japan, don’t and here’s why, unless you want to give specifically to an organization like Doctors Without Borders.

…and whatever you do stay away from the quackery of the Heritage Foundation’s “The Foundry” blog, which is writing the stuff of fiction and fantasy about radiation contamination in order to seemingly try to bolster the nuclear industry.

I’ve been tough on people talking about “context” and claiming nuclear is “safe” for many reasons, but mostly because we don’t know what we don’t know right now. The Guardian makes the case that there may be a cover up underway, which I put at the high end of probable.

… Nuclear experts have thrown doubt on the accuracy of official information issued about the Fukushima nuclear accident, saying that it followed a pattern of secrecy and cover-ups employed in other nuclear accidents. “It’s impossible to get any radiation readings,” said John Large, an independent nuclear engineer who has worked for the UK government and been commissioned to report on the accident for Greenpeace International.

“The actions of the Japanese government are completely contrary to their words. They have evacuated 180,000 people but say there is no radiation. They are certain to have readings but we are being told nothing.” He said a radiation release was suspected “but at the moment it is impossible to know. It was the same at Chernobyl, where they said there was a bit of a problem and only later did the full extent emerge.”

According to some reports, 17 helicopter crewmen helping in rescue efforts were contaminated with low-level radiation, but Japanese officials declined to comment.

The country’s government has previously been accused of covering up nuclear accidents and hampering the development of alternative energy.

In a newly released diplomatic cable obtained by WikiLeaks, politician Taro Kono, a high-profile member of Japan’s lower house, tells US diplomats that the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry – the Japanese government department responsible for nuclear energy – has been “covering up nuclear accidents and obscuring the true costs and problems associated with the nuclear industry”. [..]

Now that’s context.


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Nuclear Politics in the Wake of Japan’s Catastrophe

By on 14 March 2011

Senior Obama administration officials said Monday that Obama remains committed to nuclear power, and that U.S. nuclear plants had been built to withstand the strain of strong storms and earthquakes. [...] Carney said Monday that although the crisis in Japan is still unfolding, the White House isn’t backing away from the proposed “clean” standard. He said that U.S. officials will incorporate information from Japan “into how we view safety and security of nuclear energy as a resource.” – White House says Obama won’t back off nuclear energy

Some of you may remember when my brother-in-law passed away. Steve was as smart and important as they get in the oil industry. Long before he suddenly died he told me one fact considered irrefutable by energy experts of all types: In our lifetime we will never get off of fossil fuels. Considering he was correct about many things, including that McCain “is an asshole,” this die hard Republican oil man never gave up on convincing me my siding with Al Gore and Robert Redford on environmental issues was ill conceived.

This picture is the back drop for today’s discussion on what’s going on in Japan right now. From the New York Times:

Industry executvies (sic) in touch with their counterparts in Japan Monday night grew increasingly alarmed about the risks posed by the No. 2 reactor.

“They’re basically in a full-scale panic” among Japanese power industry managers, said a senior nuclear industry executive. The executive is not involved in managing the response to the reactors’ difficulties but has many contacts in Japan. “They’re in total disarray, they don’t know what to do.”

Still, conventional wisdom building now relies on several things:

From another New York Times article:

Diablo Canyon has been embroiled in a bitter battle with local opponents seeking new seismic studies ahead of a decision to extend the plant’s operating license, which is due to expire in about 15 years. Opponents point in part to the discovery of a previously unknown fault about a mile offshore.

But Paul Flake, a spokesman for Pacific Gas and Electric, said that geological studies —both historical and projected — placed the maximum seismic strength of an earthquake near the plant at 6.1 to 6.5, and that the plant is designed to withstand a quake of up to 7.5 in magnitude. The quake off the coast of Japan measured 8.9.

Mr. Lochbaum added that other potential problems exist in nearly every region. “The Midwest has tornadoes, parts of the gulf experience hurricanes. There are places in the North where severe ice has caused problems. They all share the common thread of Mother Nature challenging the plants.”

Anthony R. Pietrangelo, a senior vice president and chief nuclear officer with the Nuclear Energy Institute, a trade group representing the nuclear power industry, said that the industry was keenly watching the Japanese situation and would readily revisit its own emergency procedures as new information and potential lessons emerged.

Barack Obama, as well as his pal David Axelrod, have strong ties to the nuclear industry. Candidate Obama lied to Iowa voters about it when no one was looking, well almost no one.

The conversation developing today so far convinces me that the U.S. and our politicians are not smart enough, independent of political bribery, or have the courage to embrace green energy so that 50 years from now those left to deal with the same challenges brought to man by nature’s wrath aren’t still putting people and the planet in danger.

Nuclear power is “safe” as long as it stays contained.

Nature always wins.

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Sunday Politics and Japan’s Nuclear Catastrophe

By on 13 March 2011

[...] Tokyo Electric Power Co., owner of the two heavily damaged complexes, took the unprecedented step of pumping seawater mixed with boric acid into the core of another reactor, Fukushima Daiichi’s unit 1 reactor, to tame ultra-high temperatures from fuel rods that had been partially exposed. In keeping with the natural as well as mechanical challenges of the week, the company had to delay the plan briefly after another, more mild, earthquake rocked the area and led to another tsunami warning. The battle at that reactor was just one of several being waged in the worst nuclear power crisis in a quarter-century. – Japanese nuclear plants’ operator scrambles to avert meltdowns

There can be no doubt that the “partial meltdown” of at least two of Japan’s nuclear plants will be big news on the Sunday shows. The Guardian talked to Greenpeace, driving home that nuclear power doesn’t come cheap and will never be safe.

Those opposed to nuclear power will not let the incident be forgotten, as Jan Beranek, head of Greenpeace’s international nuclear campaign, made clear. “How many more warnings do we need before we finally grasp that nuclear reactors are inherently hazardous? The nuclear industry always tells us that situation like this cannot happen with modern reactors, yet Japan is currently in the middle of a potentially devastating nuclear crisis,” he said.

Chuck Todd will step in on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” which means it will be a lot more interesting. Gov. Mitch Daniels is the big guest, as is Sen. Chuck Schumer. I’m hoping he’ll repeat his thinking that it’s time for a mil-billionaire surtax, which would be a start down the shared sacrifice road.

ABC’s “This Week” and Christiane Amanpour will be live from Japan, with The Hill having the details on what subjects will be covered this morning.

CBS’s “Face the Nation’s” guests are Senators Joe Lieberman and Mary Landrieu talking Japan, Libya and the Middle East.

CNN’s “State of the Union” with Candy Crowley has Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Sen. Dick Durbin.

“Fox News Sunday” has Mitch McConnell, Sen. Mark Warner, Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

Other than that, what are you hearing or reading today? Serve up links in the comments.

While we fight in Afghanistan and Iraq, on our southern border an American professor was kidnapped by armed men in Mexico. She was unadvisedly visiting her family in Ciudad Juarez, which was a foolish move. Pres. Obama and our entire government isn’t taking our real challenges in Mexico seriously, while the Right thinks the problem is illegal immigration. We’ve got a bunch of fools in charge.

And let’s hope everyone remembered to set your clocks forward.

Screen capture from WashingtonPost.com.

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The Japan Syndrome

By on 12 March 2011

**UPDATED**

IWAKI, Japan AP (Mar 12, 10:42 PM EST) — A partial meltdown was likely under way at a second nuclear reactor, a top Japanese official said Sunday, as authorities frantically tried to prevent a similar threat from nearby unit following a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami. Some 170,000 people have been ordered to evacuate the area covering a radius of 12 miles (20 kilometers) around the plant in Fukushima near Iwaki.



There are 55 nuclear reactors inside Japan. Reuters reports no repeat of Chernobyl disaster in Japan.

However, under a heading of “red alert,” Stratfor is reporting a nuclear meltdown.

At this point, events in Japan bear many similarities to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Reports indicate that up to 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) of the reactor fuel was exposed. The reactor fuel appears to have at least partially melted, and the subsequent explosion has shattered the walls and roof of the containment vessel — and likely the remaining useful parts of the control and coolant systems.

We simply do not know the full story yet, because it’s still playing out.

I was living in New York City when the Three Mile Island catastrophe occurred. It was harrowing to hear the news reports, which resulted in demonstrations and a public outcry. It’s a good time to remember it now.

Pres. Clinton said that he remains skeptical about nuclear power (at the same time making inappropriate and wrong statements about oil drilling). Plants are expensive to build and also take a long time. Clinton didn’t address the saftey issue, which we’re seeing play out in Japan.

From Tokyo, via the New York Times:

An explosion at a crippled nuclear power plant in northern Japan on Saturday blew the roof off one building and caused a radiation leak of unspecified proportions, escalating the emergency confronting Japan’s government a day after an earthquake and tsunami devastated parts of the country’s northeastern coast.

Japanese television showed a cloud of white-gray smoke from the explosion billowing up from a stricken reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Saturday afternoon, and officials said leaks of radiation from the plant prompted them to expand the evacuation area around the facility to a 12-mile radius.

We still don’t have a solution for nuclear waste either. The Right doesn’t care, with Pres. Obama being too nonchalant about nuclear energy and a friend to that industry for some time. Nevadans came very close to having to live with the unknowns of Yucca Mountain, because ignoramuses in Congress wanted a dumping site. That many were content to have trucks filled with contaminated waste drive through poorer areas to get it to Nevada revealed the bankruptcy of the safety plan, with Yucca itself a disaster waiting to happen, which thankfully didn’t.

The BBC is also reporting a nuclear leak.

There are many aspects to making nuclear power safe, but there is also the argument that in the 21st century renewable energy and environmental sound energy policy is a better way to go, because a nuclear disaster is something from which there is no full recovery.


Graphic from the BBC.

UPDATE (11:25 EST): A site called World Nuclear News has some interesting details what’s happened with Japan’s nuclear facilities that were damaged in the earthquake.

Originally posted at 12 pm EST.

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Massive 8.9 Earthquake, Tsunami Hit Japan

By on 11 March 2011

[6:09 a.m. ET, 8:09 p.m. Tokyo] Officials fear that waves from a tsunami caused by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Japan could be so high that they wash over entire islands in the Pacific, a spokesman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said Friday. – CNN

The BBC has live coverage.

CNN has live coverage as well, which is updated continually, as does TheLede, which is always great.

From Pres. Obama:

“Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to the people of Japan, particularly those who have lost loved ones in the earthquake and tsunamis. The United States stands ready to help the Japanese people in this time of great trial. The friendship and alliance between our two nations is unshakeable, and only strengthens our resolve to stand with the people of Japan as they overcome this tragedy. We will continue to closely monitor tsunamis around Japan and the Pacific going forward and we are asking all our citizens in the affected region to listen to their state and local officials as I have instructed FEMA to be ready to assist Hawaii and the rest of the US states and territories that could be affected.” – Pres. Obama

UPDATE 3: Japan declares emergency at nuclear power plant. For the idiots out there from Obama to Palin who think the U.S. should double down on this “cheap” form of energy.

UPDATE 2: Latest from Stars & Stripes on troop reaction, including full report on impact in region and impacted areas. Amazing picture at the link when tsunami hit.

UPDATE: Hearing north Oregon coast is being evacuated. More on my Tumblr post.





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As Gulf Dies, Obama Pushing to Lift Whaling Ban

By on 07 June 2010



“…There will be oil out there for months to come. This will be well into the fall. This is a siege across the entire Gulf. – Com. Thad Allen

Looking at Pres. Obama against BP’s marauding, incompetent corporate malfeasance, the decision for the Administration to lift the moratorium on whaling comes into full view. Just in case anyone thought Mr. Obama had any intention of learning lessons where corporations and ecosystems are concerned.

This subject has been raging underneath the surface for a very long time. Now, with oil-drenched birds dying, and BP’s blowout continuing to spew oil into the Gulf, while an entire ecosystem is dying, Pres. Obama and his administration have evidently decided to give another high hard one to environmentalists and people who love the sea and want to protect it over business interests. This time it’s whales.

The Obama administration is leading an effort within the International Whaling Commission to lift a 24-year international ban on commercial whaling for Japan, Norway and Iceland, the remaining three countries in the 88-member commission that still hunt whales. The administration argues that the new deal will save thousands of whales over the next decade by stopping the three countries from illegally exploiting loopholes in the moratorium.

But environmentalists aren’t buying it.

“That moratorium on commercial whaling was the greatest conservation victory of the 20th century. And in 2010 to be waving the white flag or bowing to the stubbornness of the last three countries engaged in the practice is a mind-numbingly dumb idea,” Patrick Ramage, the whaling director at the International Fund for Animal Welfare, told FoxNews.com.

Anyone buying the Administrations malarkey at this point hasn’t been paying attention.

The Economist ran an article back in April that said: Nobody can deny that the present arrangement is messy and hypocritical. That’s because the slaughter continues even under what is supposed to be a moratorium. Japan is exploiting loopholes invoking “scientific whaling,” which is truly a laughable premise for what’s going on and everyone knows it. Their representative having called whales the ““cockroaches of the sea.” Charming, I know. The Economist:

…In February Australia (with quiet sympathy from New Zealand) threatened to take Japan to the International Court of Justice unless it stopped whaling off Antarctica.

Against this nastiness, a “peace plan” was unveiled on April 22nd, Earth Day, by the IWC’s Chilean chairman, Crishán Maquieira, and his Antiguan deputy, Anthony Liverpool. It reflected months of closed-door talks among a dozen countries. The moratorium would be lifted for a decade, but whalers would agree to a sharp reduction in their catch, stricter enforcement measures and a ban on all cross-border commerce in whale products. [...]

… Under the IWC proposal, Japan would halve the number of whales it kills off Antarctica, and face further cuts over the five years thereafter. A South Atlantic sanctuary, barred to all whaling, would be rigorously enforced. Countries that do not already hunt would not be allowed to start. IWC monitors would be placed aboard every vessel to document the kill and take DNA samples, so the meat can be traced. Japan would be allowed to hunt 120 minke whales in its coastal waters as a sop to local sentiment in four ports.

Green activists and anti-whaling countries are calling the deal a victory for whaling nations, but pro-whalers certainly do not see things that way. Masayuki Komatsu—Japan’s former IWC negotiator, who is notoriously blunt and once called minke whales the “cockroaches of the sea”—believes the proposal may mark the beginning of the end for Japanese whaling. After ten years, the industry will be smaller and the Japanese will lose interest, he grouses. Perhaps that is the point.

Suspend the moratorium, then babysit the whalers in hopes they’ll get tired and the industry will die? A lot can happen in 10 years of a moratorium suspension. Have we not learned we cannot trust international corporations when it comes to their profits versus the environment?

Obama’s response in supporting the IWC proposal is as predictable as your average Republican. He’s a friend to business, oil companies and nuclear companies, but as to the environment and its habitat no one should be impressed. The man just won’t put skin in the game for anything.

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Japanese ‘RapeLay’: Corner Women, Rape Them for Fun

By on 30 March 2010

It’s only a game, right?

Via CNN world:

The game begins with a teenage girl on a subway platform. She notices you are looking at her and asks, “Can I help you with something?”

That is when you, the player, can choose your method of assault.

With the click of your mouse, you can grope her and lift her skirt. Then you can follow her aboard the train, assaulting her sister and her mother.

As you continue to play, “friends” join in and in a series of graphic, interactive scenes, you can corner the women, rape them again and again.

The game allows you to even impregnate a girl and urge her to have an abortion. The reason behind your assault, explains the game, is that the teenage girl has accused you of molesting her on the train. The motive is revenge. [...]

None of this is new.

But the devaluing of women, especially promoting violence against them through games, is something that should be discussed and debated out loud.

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As Goes Punjab, So Goes Pakistan

By on 19 April 2009

Another drone attack in Pakistan.

A suicide bomber kills at least 20 security forces personnel and policemen in Islamabad.

Meanwhile, leading Red Mosque Islamic cleric Aziz, fresh from a two-year house arrest, calls for sharia law in Pakistan.

While the world joins in at a donor’s conference, pledging $5 billion to keep Pakistan from falling to Islamic extremists, though we’ll have to monitor the money like a hawk, that’s for certain (with Kerry and Lugar promising more). A first, it seems the world has awakened, finally, to the thoughts of Islamic extremists dancing in their heads, all armed with nuclear weapons.

Call this the last, dying result of Bush-Cheney’s “Musharaff policy,” as Biden called it last year, likely as disastrous as what unfolded because of funding started under Carter, but made worse through a sideshow battle against the former Soviet Union under Reagan. It is the unraveling of Pakistan through U.S. policy begun under C.I.A. chief William Casey, continued through many presidents, both Democratic and Republican, which now has come to a head.

Fareed Zakaria’s GPS focused on this subject today. Ahmed Rashid lives in Lahore, and has written several books on the region that are must reads for anyone wanting to try to understand what we’re facing.

Almost a month ago, David Kilcullen had an interview in the Post, one that is worth pointing to today.

Carlos Lozada: What is the real central front in the war on terror?

KILKULLEN: Pakistan. Hands down. No doubt.

Carlos Lozada Why?

KILKULLEN: Pakistan is 173 million people, 100 nuclear weapons, an army bigger than the U.S. Army, and al-Qaeda headquarters sitting right there in the two-thirds of the country that the government doesn’t control. The Pakistani military and police and intelligence service don’t follow the civilian government; they are essentially a rogue state within a state. We’re now reaching the point where within one to six months we could see the collapse of the Pakistani state, also because of the global financial crisis, which just exacerbates all these problems. . . . The collapse of Pakistan, al-Qaeda acquiring nuclear weapons, an extremist takeover — that would dwarf everything we’ve seen in the war on terror today.

So, what to do? Drone attacks are incensing the populace and especially the extremists who are gaining ground. But seriously, considering our investment, is anyone to believe that if we discontinue all drone attacks, especially those that are suggested through good intel, that Pakistan will stabilize all on its own, with extremists finally giving up? That is simply not a credible argument, though it’s being made, though every anti involvement in Afghanistan or Pakistan doesn’t seem to have any clue of an alternative. As for the military side, no doubt John Bolton will soon suggest U.S. military action here as well as Somalia. That will not happen, because Obama has not lost his mind, so he won’t mimic a militaristic madman strapped on the end of a nuclear missile.

Holbrooke continues donor efforts to bolster Pakistan’s horrific economic crisis, but after 8 years of more and more military investment without accountability, Musharaff left the country a mess, with his successor Pres. Zardari weak and disrespected, and his enemies know it.

Meanwhile, the Taliban is on the march.

[...]The Taliban “have now become a self-sustaining force,” author Ahmed Rashid, an expert on the insurgency, told a conference in Washington on Wednesday. “They have an agenda for Pakistan, and that agenda is no less than to topple the government of Pakistan and ‘Talibanizing’ the entire country.”

The U.S. intelligence official, however, said that Pakistan’s elite, dominated since the country’s independence in 1947 by politicians, bureaucrats and military officers from Punjab, have failed to recognize the seriousness of the situation.

“The Punjabi elite has already lost control of Pakistan, but neither they nor the Obama administration realize that,” the official said. “Pakistan will be an Islamist state — or maybe a collection of four Islamic states, probably within a few years. There’s no civilian leadership in Islamabad that can stop this, and so far, there hasn’t been any that’s been willing to try.”

Several U.S. officials said that the Afghanistan-Pakistan strategy that President Barack Obama unveiled last month is being called into question by the accelerating rate at which the insurgency in Pakistan is expanding.

With Pakistan militancy rising, so goes Punjab, so goes Obama’s Af-Pak strategy.

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Ask a Stupid Question…

By on 06 April 2009

Get a stupid answer. Rasmussen and Politico doing a tag team on North Korea. Rasmussen asks the question (h/t Democracy Arsenal), with Politico setting up Newt Gingrich pretty well in their “Voters back force in N. Korea” headline on the polling.

In what seemed to be a swipe at the Obama administration’s response, he warned, “One morning, just like 9/11, there’s going to be a disaster,” adding, “I have yet to see the United Nations do anything effective with either Iran or North Korea.”

Okay, so let’s play it out. We take out North Korea’s missile on the launch pad. Now tell the international story.

North Korea’s Taepodong-2 missile went around 1,984 miles miles then made a splash landing, though the government is saying otherwise. That’s around twice the range of the first launch in ’98.

No matter how you look at it, North Korea is a long way from hitting Alaska or anywhere else in the U.S. So what Mr. Gingrich is suggesting is to do exactly what Pyongyang wants and that is to give them the wrong kind of attention they so desperately seek, with Gingrich’s solution helping them a lot more than the U.S. Typical foreign policy strategy of conservatives of Gingrich’s ilk.

Steve Clemons has a potentially powerful, if provocative, suggestion on how to respond to North Korea’s “pin-pricks.”

At the same time, we simply need more alternatives and allies — and the best I can think of is to work with Japan, South Korea, and China in not calling for withdrawing engagement and toughening sanctions but rather crafting how to strategically enhance engagement with particular forces inside North Korea that we want to cultivate.

It’s time for a Nixonian approach that would enrich some of North Korea’s potential robber barons against the interests of others inside the regime. We need to try to unleash opportunities for some and not others. [...]

Utilizing North Korea’s neighbors, Japan, South Korea, and even China is a much smarter play. We don’t have to do everything ourselves. In fact, we shouldn’t.

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It Isn’t Just About Israel and Iran

By on 05 April 2009

North Korea’s launch is the backdrop, but in the conversation on nuclear proliferation this isn’t just about Netanyahu’s bluster, and Ahmadinejad’s ambitions in the face of little proof of manifestations as yet. It’s also about Russian loose nukes, as well as the underground market that Pakistan let run unchecked so long, the tensions yo-yoing with India, as other nations like Saudi Arabia race to arm.

North Korea defied the United States, China and a series of United Nations resolutions by launching a rocket on Sunday that the country said was designed to propel a satellite into space, but that much of the world viewed as an effort to prove it is edging toward the capability to shoot a nuclear warhead on a longer-range missile.

[...] Manufacturing a nuclear warhead that is small enough, light enough and heat-resistant enough to be mounted atop a missile is far more complex than building a basic nuclear device — and intelligence officials and outside experts believe North Korea is still years from that accomplishment. Typically, it takes many years of experimentation for a nation to learn how to shrink an ungainly test device into a slim warhead.

Nonetheless, the series of tests in recent years — in 2006 and 1998 — is prompting fears of North Korean proliferation among Japanese, Chinese and Western leaders. North Korea’s missiles have ranked among its few profitable exports — Iran, Syria and Pakistan have all been among its major customers. If this long-range test ends up a success, it would presumably make the design far more attractive on the international black market. …

President Obama’s statement on the Taepo-dong 2 missile launch by the North Koreans:

North Korea’s development and proliferation of ballistic missile technology pose a threat to the northeast Asian region and to international peace and security. The launch today of a Taepo-dong 2 missile was a clear violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718, which expressly prohibits North Korea from conducting ballistic missile-related activities of any kind. With this provocative act, North Korea has ignored its international obligations, rejected unequivocal calls for restraint, and further isolated itself from the community of nations.

We will immediately consult with our allies in the region, including Japan and the Republic of Korea, and members of the U.N. Security Council to bring this matter before the Council. I urge North Korea to abide fully by the resolutions of the U.N. Security Council and to refrain from further provocative actions.

Preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery is a high priority for my administration. The United States is fully committed to maintaining security and stability in northeast Asia and we will continue working for the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through the Six-Party Talks. The Six-Party Talks provide the forum for achieving denuclearization, reducing tensions, and for resolving other issues of concern between North Korea, its four neighbors, and the United States. North Korea has a pathway to acceptance in the international community, but it will not find that acceptance unless it abandons its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and abides by its international obligations and commitments.

But as Robert Gates, whose defense budget is due tomorrow and will likely shake the earth, said recently in an interview on Fox, Six-Party Talks haven’t worked, and we’re not prepared to shoot any missile there down. It’s about inflicting damage that would mainly hit the North Korean people who are already in deep trouble: “Frankly, from my perspective, the opportunity for success is probably more in economic sanctions in both places than it is in diplomacy,” Gates said. “What gets them to the table is economic sanctions.”

We need Medvedev to do anything about nuclear proliferation, and we all await Undersecretary of State William Burns and what he has to say about Iran next week, because they’re next on any conversations on the topic, even though they’re years away, despite what Mr. Netanyahu believes.

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Spring in Washington

By on 04 April 2009

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The second picture above is part of the F.D.R. memorial along the tidal basin in D.C. It’s spectacular, with fountains and chiseled F.D.R. quotes, plus statues of both the president and Eleanor.

It really was a splendid walk, seeing these gorgeous trees that date back to 1912; 3,000 cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo. The photos above were taken on April 1, which was the peak blooming moment in this year’s Cherry Blossom season.

What’s catching your eye this Saturday? Any interesting news happening in the global village?

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Monday Morning Java Jolt: Clinton Heads to Asia

By on 16 February 2009

japan_clinton_asia_xkan104UPDATE: Clinton arrives in Japan.

Wake up and smell the coffee readers. Taylor is hitting the road for her cross country journey this morning and my goal is to keep you all informed while she’s on the road. Having just made a cross country road trip and move myself just about 4 months ago, I hope Taylor’s is as much fun and trouble-free as mine was.

As Taylor mentioned here yesterday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Asia this week and her trip should give us plenty to talk about. Clinton is traveling to Asia where she will “seek to develop a strong coordinated response to the global financial crisis between the U.S. and Asia’s economic powers during her four-nation regional tour.”

Mrs. Clinton cited, in particular, China’s “robust stimulus plan” as the type of action the Obama administration is hoping to see from Asian nations in an effort to reenergize the global financial system.

“I will be discussing with [Asian countries] the approaches that they’ll be taking” to stimulate their economies “and seeking greater cooperation,” Mrs. Clinton told reporters aboard en route to Alaska from Washington. “The Chinese have a very robust stimulus plan…They are taking internal steps.”

Mrs. Clinton arrives in Tokyo Monday evening and will then travel to Indonesia, South Korea and China.

Clinton will be meeting with “religious readers, university students, and business leaders across the region” and she has “described her trip as primarily a listening tour to learn more about how Washington can develop partnerships to combat key economic, security or environmental issues.” Clinton said that “the information she gathers will feed into the Obama administration’s review of its Asia policy.”

“We have a very broad agenda to deal with when it comes to China,” Mrs. Clinton said. “This first trip will be intended to find a path forward.”

Mrs. Clinton said she’s raise human rights issues in China when she takes part in a town hall meeting in Beijing.

The timing of Clinton’s trip is impeccable given the news that Japan’s economy is tanking again, at the “fatest pace” since the 1970′s:

The sharp downturn is exposing the vulnerability of Japan’s export-driven economic recovery. The dismal figures also place Japan firmly among the worst-hit in the global crisis, dwarfing economic declines in the United States and Europe.

And speaking of the timing of Clinton’s trip to Asia, as Clinton was in flight to Tokyo, there was news that “North Korea was threatening to fire a missile.”

“The North Koreans have already agreed to dismantling,” she said. “We expect them to fulfill the obligations that they entered into.”

The secretary has warned North Korea “to avoid any provocative action and unhelpful rhetoric.”

Clinton said her trip will demonstrate a new U.S. commitment to work with Asian leaders on “problems that no one nation, including ours, can deal with alone.”

Clinton also promised to meet with families of Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korea in the 1970s and ’80s.

She said, “We do want to press the North Koreans to be more forthcoming with information.”

Needless to say there should be plenty to talk about as we start of the week with a jolt of java and what appears to be the beginning of an interesting week for Secretary Clinton in Asia.

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Into the Night and on to Dawn’s Early Light

By on 15 February 2009

Road music. There’s so much, starting with jazz first, Miles Davis, but on long road trips you simply have to have great rock. But then it always comes back to jazz, especially the instrumentals.

Secretary Clinton is in Asia, so there should be some great stuff coming from State while I’m on the road. You can follow what’s going on, as well as see terrific videos. Don’t hesitate to put Hillary items “In the News” for all to see. It’s her first big trip overseas.

The week begins knowing that President Obama prevailed to get his stimulus passed, which he will sign into law this week. It was ugly, but no president has gotten this type of major legislation passed so quickly. Of course, there’s two sides to that coin. For the sake of the country and the watching world, let’s hope it works.

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Clinton to China

By on 05 February 2009

Hillary's World
This seems so fitting for her, especially for anyone who remembers her speech when she was first lady. It was a speech that shook the world, all because Hillary Clinton dared to say “women’s rights are human rights.”

Climate is to be a top priority on Secretary Clinton’s first trip, with Japan being the first stop on her Asia trip where economic turmoil will be on the agenda.

From Andrew Revkin of the NY Times on China’s energy focus that includes tackling emissions and greenhouse gases:

As I wrote the other day, it looks like countries are going to remain focused on addressing real-time problems related to energy security (most notably high oil prices) for the time being, even as evidence builds that global warming could fuel turmoil, particularly in already-troubled places like sub-Saharan Africa, in the long run. I ran a panel at a meeting on China, energy, and climate at the Council on Foreign Relations on Tuesday, and in the preceding session, Zhou Dadi, one of the leading figures shaping China’s energy and climate policies said energy security will remain China’s top priority for a long while to come. He restated the longstanding mantra from China on climate, saying the responsibility for blunting emissions curves for greenhouse gases will remain with industrialized powers for a long time to come.

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Clinton to East Asia, Zbig & Scowcroft to Iran?

By on 05 February 2009

This is a long travel day for me, so I put together some links, including some emailed to me, that involve foreign policy, as well as the economy. While I’m traveling over the next days, Pamela from DemocraticDaily will be on board to help out. Please welcome her, though some of you no doubt remember her from her previous guest posting. I’ll be writing too, but I won’t have a regular schedule.

Secretary Clinton’s schedule for the day is here and includes a working dinner on East Asia, which is said to be her first trip abroad.

David Ignatius picks Obama’s Iran “a Team”:

This willingness to embrace new ideas was especially clear when Brzezinski and Scowcroft talked about Iran. Both believed that the Bush administration’s policy of isolating Iran — and trying to dictate terms for negotiations about its nuclear program — had been a mistake. Scowcroft argued that the United States had approached Iran “emotionally,” while Brzezinski said the administration had followed “a self-defeating policy that simply perpetuates the existing difficulty.”

Steve Clemons has an interesting read on “The Economicization of US Foreign Policy.”

Up front on the economic scene is a column in the WSJ. The title alone gets it included today: The GOP Has a Dumb Mortgage Idea.

Few philosophers have done more good than Locke and Montesquieu, whose advocacy of divided government inspired America’s Founders. Our history, and the less happy past of nations without checks and balances, suggests the wisdom of John Adams’s statement: “a people cannot be long free, nor ever happy, whose government is in one Assembly.” Today, the Senate Republicans bear the heavy burden of providing the primary check on one-party rule in America.

For that reason, it is particularly disappointing to see Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell embrace “providing government-backed, 4% fixed mortgages to any credit-worthy borrower” as his alternative to the Barack Obama/Nancy Pelosi stimulus package. Our nation needs Mr. McConnell’s leadership, but this idea is bad economics and not a real alternative to the vision of America offered by Democrats. It also stands at odds with all that is good in Republicanism.

China could raise wages to stimulate demand:

Asians must either make less stuff and spend more time cutting each other’s hair, or they must buy more themselves. Either way, households will have to increase spending. But things have been going in the wrong direction. Assumptions about the region’s swelling middle class notwithstanding, consumption as a proportion of a fast-rising GDP has been falling – and swiftly at that.

Brad Setser writes for the Council on Foreign Relations regarding China and trade.

Macroman reports that there is a bit of optimism in the air about China right now. Loan growth was strong in January. Steel prices have picked up a bit. The latest Chinese purchasing managers survey wasn’t as bad as the last one. The fall in the pace of contraction in activity has generated hope that China’s economy will rebound later in the year. China’s stimulus will help, as will the fact that China’s state banks are liquid and have clear instructions to lend …

Everyone looks at China through their own lens. My lens is the trade data. And there I still don’t find much basis for optimism.

“Boo Hoo from the Boardroom” is one of my favorites today:

As it turns out, there’s a performance clause in class resentment. To fail and still walk away with a killing is a break in the social contract simply because it doesn’t work that way in real life for most people.

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